“Where did our money go?” Parents accuse booster club president of conflicts, lack of proper accounting

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KENOSHA -- It's supposed to be for the kids, but no one seems to know how much money a local football booster club has raised or what the club's longtime president did with it.

Tom Stone became President of the Bradford End Zone Club in 2007. For historical perspective, that's the same year Bradford's most prominent football player -- Melvin Gordon -- was a freshman. Gordon is not accused of any wrongdoing, but just as he launched the brightest period in the history of Red Devils football, Stone may have presided over the darkest period in the history of the school's booster club.

Nine years after he took over the booster club, Stone didn't want to talk with FOX6 News about the tens of thousands of dollars parents have donated since he's been in charge of the End Zone Club, a parent-driven organization that operates with the permission of Bradford High School.

Michele Vega joined the club when her son was a freshman in 2012. She immediately started helping raise money for the team -- from pancake breakfasts and spaghetti dinners to golf outings and game day concessions.

Vega was so good at raising money, she and another Bradford parent -- Kim Aker -- were named fundraising co-chairs last year. By then, Vega already had concerns about where the money was going, so she pressed Stone, the club's president, for information.

"'What did we do in sales last year?' He said, 'I don't know,'" Vega said. "I said, 'What's in our account?' He said, 'I don't know that either.'"

One month, Vega said Stone mentioned having $32,000 in the bank. The next month it was $22,000.

"'Where did it go? What did we do with $10-thousand dollars?' And there was no answer," she said.

As part of this investigation, the FOX 6 Investigators obtained hundreds of pages of records, including emails, letters, internal memos and executive reports through an open records request to the Kenosha Unified School District. The records were released in five PDF files.

Stone was the only person with access to the club's private bank account. After all, the Bradford End Zone Club was registered in Tom Stone's name as a for-profit corporation, rather than a charity, as school district rules require.

In 2012, Tom Stone registered the Bradford End Zone Club as a private corporation in his own name, rather than a 501(c)(3) charity, as the school district had directed him to do as early as 2007.

And while the district insists the club operates independently, Stone listed the high school's address as the club's principal office.

"He had a mailbox," Vega said. "The head coach's secretary was doing his paperwork."

"I can't prove to you he's stealing. Nobody can prove to me he isn't." -Michele Vega

In addition to registering the End Zone Club, Stone owns a business called Prime Fundraising, which sells discount cards to the club. He also owns T-Shirts Your Way, which produces Bradford football apparel. In other words, Stone's businesses sold products to the club he ran which then sold those products to parents using the Bradford name and logo.

"Who said it was OK for a private business to come into a public school and make money off our kids?" Vega said.

She complained to the football coach, the athletic director, the principal, the school board and eventually, in November of 2015, to the superintendent of the Kenosha Unified School District. Dr. Sue Savaglio-Jarvis declined repeated requests for an interview. FOX6 found her at the dedication of Bradford's new $6 million, taxpayer-funded football stadium.

Kenosha Unified School District Superintedent Sue Savaglio-Jarvis declined multiple requests for an interview about the End Zone Club. When approached before the dedication of Bradford's new stadium, she walked away from FOX 6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn without answering questions.

FOX6's Bryan Polcyn: "Dr. Savaglio-Jarvis, do you have just a minute?"

"No I don't, we're goin' on the field," she said.

"We're getting ready to go on the field," an assistant interrupted.

"If you won't talk now, when can we talk?" Polcyn asked, as the superintendent walked away.

In a brief statement sent to FOX6 News, the superintendent wrote that parent organizations are "run entirely separate from all district operations" and that members are held accountable by the club, "not the Kenosha Unified School District."

Last winter, at Vega's request, the school district conducted its own investigation of the End Zone Club. Since most of the money raised was in cash and Stone didn't keep any formal documentation of meetings, the district wrote that it "could not conclude fraud" had been committed.

"I can't prove to you he's stealing. Nobody can prove to me he isn't," Vega said.

Vega took her complaints to Kenosha police, who declined to investigate. So she went straight to the Kenosha County district attorney, who requested an interview with Stone. The DA told FOX6 it would be inaccurate to call it a "formal investigation."

FOX6 asked Stone to show us the club's financial statements and tax filings for the past several years. At first, he agreed to do so, even scheduling an interview nearly two weeks in advance. The night before the interview, however, he backed out. Stone wrote that the "leadership" of the club had directed him not to talk to the media.

After initially agreeing to meet with FOX 6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn to go over the club's finances, Tom Stone canceled the interview. He then avoided questions when Polcyn approached him before Bradford's first game in its new home stadium.

"All you have to do is talk to me," Polcyn said, as Stone walked away toward the Bradford players' locker room. "If you have good answers, I'm right here, Tom."

While he refused to talk to the FOX6 Investigators, Stone did tell school officials that all the money raised went to the football team and that Vega's allegations are an insult.

"If it was me, I'd be giving you every ounce of paperwork to prove I was innocent," Vega said.

The district has acknowledged that Stone's role as both president of the End Zone Club and one of its primary vendors "raises the appearance of impropriety." So, earlier this year, the district recommended that the old club be stopped and a new one created in its place as an official 501(c)(3) charity.

As the 2016 season got underway, however, the 'new' End Zone Club had yet to file for non-profit status. Tom Stone was still heavily involved as the club's game day coordinator. His T-shirt and prime card businesses were once again chosen as the club's official vendors. And Stone had yet to return over whatever funds remained in the old club's account.

"If he was for the kids this whole time, what is the problem with him handing the money over?" said Kim Aker, a Bradford parent and former co-chair of fundraising for the club.

It wasn't until after the FOX6 Investigators got involved that Stone finally wrote a check for nearly $10,000 to the new End Zone Club. Four days after that, the new club paid the IRS application fee to begin the process of becoming a charity.

Michele Vega joined the End Zone Club in 2012 when her son was a freshman in Bradford High School. She has been involved in fundraising ever since.

Now, Bradford has a new football stadium and a new End Zone Club. But Vega won't be satisfied unless a proper accounting of the money already raised finally comes to light.

"Show me where our money went," she said.

Booster clubs are not required by law to register as 501(c)(3) charities, but -- if they use their own private bank account -- they are required by Kenosha School District policy to have 501(c)(3) status.

Why does it matter? Because the tax returns of non-profit organizations are public records. That means you can see how much money they raise , how much they spend and how much they have in the bank at the end of the year.

That way, you know if the money you're donating is going where it is supposed to go.

12 comments

Mark

Opinion8d

Clearly lack of oversight by KUSD. I’m guessing though, that this guy will get away with it since he was listed a for-profit organization. While morally more money could have be spent on the programs, I don’t know what legal ramifications there are. It doesn’t look good given he had multiple businesses benefiting from the organization. That’s why it’s important for people to speak up and ask questions…..good for those involved in uncovering this info!

guilty

Realist

Gee, he is president and treasurer of the organization. Does anyone else have visibility of club expenditures? There is no oversight. Common sense says you require two approvals to spend any money in situations like this.

Concerned

That story was nothing more than sensationalism. Has any body ever really volunteered their time. Does anyone know how much work all those parents have put into helping the program? Shame! This lady has an ax to grind with one person. If Kenosha Unified, the School and Police Dept. all felt that nothing was done wrong, then nothing was wrong. Shame on one CRAZY lady for trying to embarrass the school, program and administration. FOX 6 you have lost any credibility! You did not fact check your information. Do you know anythig about the people who came to you with the original complaint? Maybe the reason they came to you is because all the other investigations proved that no wrong doing had taken place. How come you could only find two parents? Since becoming a memeber in 2012, the membership of the club suffered greatly because no one wanted to work with her. Did you ask about the 10’s of thousands of dollars those two parents claimed to have raised in the name of the club, but never produced a check or any other money? How about the thousands of dollars given to produce a product that was to be a gift to the out going seniors the year their sons graduated, and was never completed. I am very saddend by FOX 6 stooping to such a low level for a story. These are good people doing a good thing and bacuse one mom and her little flunky friend cried wolf you listened. Dr. Sue, Dr. Sinclair, Booster parents and players hats off to you. Bradford High School and Kenosha Unified are great places. Fox 6 next time do your homework!!!

Mike M.

The journalist did his homework. Did you? Did you read through the PDFs that cost close to $2,000 to get? He tried to talk to KUSDand the thief. How can anybody make any other conclusion. So now you re twisting this on some hard working mom who volunteered her time and rightfully wants to know where her money went?! I WANT TO KNOW WHERE MY MONEY WENT!!!!!!!!! What is wrong with you?

Mike M.

The Kenosha Unified School District sat by and denied and avoided the obvious. This man was stealing from parents and children. Those stupid cards and spaghetti dinner tickets that the boys have to sell are impossible to get rid of by selling! The money comes out of MY pocket and I struggled to come even up with the money to HELP the football team. I read the emails that the journalist got from the district. Read between the line. The Bradford coach was asking for money for some of his people. The district just wanted it to go away. They say they are not legallly responsible. Really? What about morally responsible. Nine years this guy has been doing this? Really? No kid on the team? Hmmmm? Show me the money! It’s a simple question. Who is profiting? Whose hand s re getting greased? Get rid of the guy. He is a thief no yes he should be prosecuted not protected. Utterly disgusting!!!

Liz

Josh

The guy was not transparent. He did not follow the rules and blatantly ignored a directive to file 501 3 c status, uses a secretary from the school, uses school address, uses. School mail box, walks on the field and locker room Like he owns the place, but the district says that is outside of their jurisdiction. That is not right. He’s gonna cook the books anyways now that he has some oversight. Need more than one guy doing the cash!! He won’t share his records. He doesn’t know. He not talk yet he is able to run. Tshirt business? Very convenient.